


Bricks of Carelessness and Crumbs

by Arsyn_in_Heaven



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Angsty Carmilla, Carmilla Haunt, F/F, Multichapter, laura is horny af, seems like it's gonna be light hearted and smutty but turns out more angsty and sexually frustrated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:47:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3392294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsyn_in_Heaven/pseuds/Arsyn_in_Heaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla and Laura are a week or so into the semester, and their relationship, and both are going pretty well, minus the malevolent presence that has taken residence in their room. Actually, it's kind of really putting a damper on it. (Prepare for fluff, angst, actual plot, and lots of kissing.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One with the Dark Lurking Presence(s)

Laura had planned to start this semester off right. She was going to buckle down, ignore all dark and lurking forces, and maybe actually do some school work. Possibly crack open a book. Make some friends that weren’t also prone to distracting heroism. However, predictably, one such dark lurking force was currently preventing her from focusing on her assigned reading.

Carmilla.

And her freaking _face_.

The 300ish year old was lounging on her bed (as per usual), flipping through a book (shocker), with a ghost of a smirk peaking through every time Laura glanced at her (hot).

Crap.

Carmilla quirked an eyebrow when Laura’s glance turned into a stare.

“Something bothering you, buttercup?”

Dazed, Laura replied, “Yeah. You.”

Carmilla’s smirk slipped into a full smile that casually shoved Laura’s heart into performing a somersault.

Double crap.

The vampire closed her book and turned fully toward Laura, who sat cross-legged on her own bed, textbooks spread out as if she were actually managing to work.

“You’re going to have to be more specific, cupcake. Did I leave my lovely locks in the drain? Kill someone you like? Drop too many clothes on the floor?”

Laura’s eye scanned Carmilla’s outfit for the day- a lacey blouse, shorts, knee highs, boots (In bed. Why?)- and she determined, despite the bit of exposed thigh that made Laura’s hands clumsy, that she needed there to be less layers between them.

So she replied, about a thousand times smoother than rambling Laura is used to being,

“Too little.”

Carmilla was silent for half a second, translating Laura’s come on, before letting out a short belly laugh. Laura wanted to bottle the sound. No, actually, she wanted her to laugh more frequently and freely. Over and over and over again, so maybe then Carmilla will forget what it’s like to not be able to.

But there were other sounds Laura wanted to elicit from Carmilla in this particular moment. Personal sounds. Sounds that occur when you- you know- do things. Fine, Sex. Laura wanted to have sex. Okay, maybe she wasn’t nearly as experienced as Carmilla (with most things), and maybe she hadn’t gone very far with her exes (ex and a half), but Laura was nothing if not determined. And Carmilla’s face was doing things today, so really, it was out of Laura’s hands. To make room for other...things...in her hands.

Oh, fudge it.

Laura ungracefully yet speedily hopped off her bed and onto Carmilla’s shaking the bed dramatically. She placed a kiss on Carmilla’s shocked face, just above her quirked eyebrow. Carmilla’s trademark smirk made an appearance.

“Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah, I can think of a few things you could do.”

Laura gently pried Carmilla’s book from her hands and placed it on the bookshelf behind her, leaning in for little kisses across her roommate’s face. Carmilla’s eyes fluttered.

  
“It was just getting good, you know. Descartes was about to fool himself into thinking he’s proved god exists. It’s a-”

Laura moved down to her neck, kissing deeper. Carmilla’s breath quickened underneath her.

  
“It’s a comedy. But it’s, uh, Important stuff.”

  
Laura backed away from Carmilla’s neck to look at her. She kissed her lips now, softly, smiling into her.

“Yeah?”

Carmilla regarded her a moment, something new in her eyes that Laura couldn’t quite identify.

“No.”

Hunger.

Carmilla kissed her hard now, drawing Laura forward onto her lap. Carmilla kissed like she was trying to confirm the solidity of Laura. That, or assimilate into her. There was an odd sense of urgency about some of Carmilla’s kisses, and an intense softness to others. This kiss veered more toward urgency. One hand held Laura close to her, the other trailed up and into Laura’s hair, sending goosebumps up her back. Laura had taken a second to catch up, letting Carmilla guide her, but no more. This was her idea, after all. So Laura kissed her harder, deeper, and let her hands wander under Carmilla’s shirt, starting to pull it off.

Carmilla froze.

  
Laura noticed immediately, but it took her a minute to tell her body to stop. When she drew back to look at Carmilla’s face, she was surprised to find Carmilla’s favorite somber-but-still-pretending-to-be-unaffected face.

“What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing, just- aren’t you afraid of the ginger snaps barging in?” said Carmilla, through a forced smirk.

“Ha, not really. But we can lock the door if you’d like?”

“No, that’s okay,” she murmured, suddenly very interested in a stain on her blanket. Laura made a mental note to remind her to wash it later. As if she’d listen.

But when Carmilla didn’t make a move to resume their... activities, Laura knew there was something she wasn’t telling her.  
  


“Are you gonna tell me what’s really up?”

This made Carmilla look up, but she didn’t respond, seeming to think.

“If you don’t want to yet, that’s perfectly-”

“No, that’s not it.”  
  


Well now Laura was confused. But she waited for Carmilla to explain.

“I feel like we’re… being watched.”

Scratch that. _Now_ Laura was confused. She might have laughed if Carmilla didn’t look so darned serious.

“Watched? You mean, like, the camera? Because it’s off-”

“I know. That’s not what I mean. I just feel...off.”  
  


Carmilla eyes scanned the room quickly, then returned to meet Laura’s, somewhat sheepishly. She lowered her voice to an octave that would have sent Laura over the edge mere minutes ago. Now, it sent the wrong kind of shivers up her spine.  
  


“I don’t think we’re alone.”


	2. The One with the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darkness, nightmares, and cuddles. (These are a few of my favorite things)

Carmilla had always been enamored with darkness, even as a human. Even as a child. She would steal into the night, forgetting the light and flash of wealth in favor of the freedom and seclusion of darkness. She had sought it out, again and again. Perhaps it was this disregard for the affairs of her world that had allowed her to so easily succumb to another, darker existence. Carmilla knew it was this love that had killed her.

She’d slipped away from the music and life of the ball to look at the immortal stars when her murderer had found her. She remembered the stars fading one by one as her vision spotted and the weapon tore through her. She remembered that this darkness was not so inviting.

It was not until Carmilla betrayed the woman that had returned the stars to her that she knew what true darkness was. She’d watched it approach, the cracks in her coffin letting light in like stars, only to be smothered by dirt and blood. It was this darkness that would never leave her.

“This was your doing, Mircalla.”

It returned to her this night, suffocating her, though she did not need to breathe. But she wanted to. Oh, she wanted to, and she hated herself for it. This dream was more vivid than ever, perhaps even more so than when she was originally encased, as she’d been half mad each second she spent entombed. Fully mad for most of it.

She’d always imagined darkness like space. Open. Empty. Unlimited. This darkness was thick and crushing and mad and red and filled with the emptiness of her. The absence. An absence that filled her up like blood, now, the echoes of her screams trapped in the liquid, sound waves giving way to the waves of the dead. She could hear them, like the ocean, in her ears. She screamed louder, louder, harder, but it only let them in. She sank and sank further into the bloody sea, muscles too worn and dead to swim against the current. So she simply looked up. Looking for the stars.

She found the sun.

“Carm? Carmilla?”

She woke to Laura hovering over her, hands cupping Carmilla’s face, her own scrunched up in worry. It was daytime. Carmilla struggled to still her shaking hands and calm her breathing. Her sequential inability to do so sickened her, (she shouldn’t have to do it at all) and gave her next statement a little more bite than she’d intended.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be, sweetheart?”

Even within the status of their relationship, Laura would have usually bitten back with some lame comeback and exclamation of Carmilla’s impossibility, but Carmilla’s insufferable trembling lent itself to more softness that she was currently comfortable with.

“No, I really don’t.”

Carmilla sat up and Laura sat in front of her. She studied Carmilla and grabbed one of her hands.

“Are you okay, Carmilla? You’re shaking.”

“I’ve noticed, thanks.”

The brunette pulled her hand back and raked it through her tangled hair.

“Do you need some blood?”

The thought of it nauseated her.

“No.”

“Some water then?”

“No.”

“Cookies?”

Carmilla cracked a small smile.

“Cupcake,-”

“I do have one of those!”

Her smile grew.

“No, thank you.”

Laura chose this moment to whip out one of the accents she’d been working on since she’d learned Carmilla was a vampire. Well, after she’d decided that Carmilla wasn’t being literal with her nicknames and going to eat her. Well, not in the bad way.

“Some varm milk?....perhaps?”

Carmilla chuckled and shook her head. It was small, and short lived, but some of that shaking was because of laughter and Laura couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of that.

Carmilla, on the other hand, took this moment to ponder her own miserable descent into softness.

Someone else, or something else, meanwhile, used the moment to smash Laura’s Tardis mug. Actually, not smash. Blow up.

There was a kind of screeching, like that of something that’s about to be crushed. Then, bits of blue flew out in all directions from the mug’s resting place (final resting place, now) on Laura’s desk. Carmilla instinctually pulled Laura to her, curling around her and shielding her from the ceramic pieces with the assistance of some of that vampiric speed.

“What in the name of Gallifrey was that?”

Carmilla’s eyes scoured the room, though she knew she’d not see it. Whatever it was. Laura was still close to her as she eyed the broken pieces scattered about. Carmilla noticed an indescribable, yet familiar, coldness that did little to quell her shaking. She shook it off and returned her attention to Laura, who appeared to be unharmed.

“Looks like your tortoise mug is down for the count, sundance.”

“Tardis...” She said, still taken aback. She turned to look at Carmilla when nothing else exploded.

“I think we’re being haunted.”

 

Carmilla just stared for a minute, then said slowly,

“Yes, Watson, I can see you’re catching up now.”

Laura pulled back to sit properly across from her.

“I just thought you were being paranoid after the whole hungry light debacle.”

“The present horrible things are enough for me, creampuff. I don’t need to make things up.”

“Okay, well, I’ll have to remember that next time.”

 

It occurred to both of them, then, that there would most likely be plenty of ‘next time’s.

Laura mused that these times would be spent with Carmilla, that they could figure them out together. Carmilla reasoned that one of these ‘next time’s would be Laura’s last.

It didn’t occur to either of them to tell the other.  
  


“Lafontaine will love this.”

Carmilla huffed.

“No thanks. You’re not bringing the fire haired brigade over here. We have enough visitors.”

“Oh, so you wanna do all the research?”

“A bit of light reading never hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, but by the time you get out of bed and make your way over to the library, my head will be spinning around and I’ll be crawling on the ceiling.” 

Carmilla raised an eyebrow.

“Well, It’ll save me a netflix subscription.”

Laura slapped Carmilla’s arm, but smiled. She received a smile back, but it was a bit too weary for Laura’s liking. Carmilla still seemed jittery. Nightmares and ghosts. With Carmilla, it seemed they were one and the same.

 

“I’m texting everyone and they’re all coming over and we’re going to perform an exorcism or whatever we need to do,” Laura said sternly but playfully,

“But we should probably nap before they get here. Keep our energy up.”

Carmilla knew Laura was trying to make her get some sleep, but she highly doubted it was possible now. Still, Carmilla wasn’t appalled by the idea of a ‘cuddle sesh’ (Laura’s phrase, not hers), so she smirked, lay down, and then rapidly pulled Laura down to her, where she landed with a little squeak.

“Fine, Assemble the Avengers.”

“See! I knew you could be cooperati-”

“But I’m not chit-chatting with them.”

“That’s fine! You’d probably just confuse them.”

“Alright, then. It’s determined.”

Laura settled into Carmilla, resting her head on her chest, arm resting on her stomach as she shot out a group text. When Laura closed her eyes and felt Carmilla run her fingers through her hair, she thought of something.

“I have an amendment to suggest.”  
  
“Is that so,” Carmilla said tiredly. Maybe she would fall asleep after all.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Laura listened to Carmilla’s heartbeat a moment before continuing.

“No heroic self-sacrificing gestures, okay? I don’t really think I can-”

She stopped, and Carmilla’s hand stalled. Laura sighed suddenly and began again,

“No one dies, got it?”

Carmilla leaned down, brow furrowed, and kissed Laura’s forehead.

“Sure thing, cutie. No one dies.”

 

But they both knew that Carmilla was lying, and they both knew that when it came down to it, teamwork, feminism and leather pants may not be strong enough to protect them.

And Carmilla knew better than most, that love will have it’s sacrifices. Heedless of the pleas of it’s mark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it looks like I'll just be switching back and forth from their minds (which is probably why we have third person to begin with...) I had intended to progress much more this chapter, but I got wrapped up in the little things. Ah well. We like the little things here at Ao3, right? Any guesses on what's plaguing them? And what it has against Doctor Who? Let me know what you think! It fuels me.
> 
> No beta, btw.
> 
> Track #Carmilla Haunt for updates and me shouting into the void.


	3. The One with the Not-So-Silent Fixture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fellowship gets back in groove(ish).

Carmilla and Laura woke to the sound of a door being flung open, sending Laura a nearly not figurative five feet in the air and causing Carmilla to flinch just a bit more than she’d ever admit to. The cause of the respective jump and flinch was none other than Danny Lawrence, Laura’s almost lover and Carmilla’s only living arch nemesis, two titles that were not exactly exclusive of each other.

Danny’s rushed entrance was faltered by the sight of Laura in Carmilla’s bed. She cleared her throat, composing herself, and said,

“Where’s the ghost?”

“If it isn’t Gandalf the Red, here to save the day.”

Laura gave Carmilla a withering glare. Danny had been trying to be civil with Carmilla since the whole dead-not dead thing, but Carmilla wasn’t making it easy. She never did. Laura stood, and Danny seemed to relax a bit.

“You can’t actually see it, being a ghost and all. At least, we think it’s a ghost.”

The door, which had begun to drift back to it’s closed status, flung open again, causing Laura to jump again, Danny to swing around, and Carmilla to roll her eyes with the intensity of a thousand suns.

“And you brought the hobbits.”

Lafontaine rushed in, Perry in tow, who looked a bit wary of the room. Laura was glad to see them together still, attached to the hip as ever, even if there was Lafontaine's relationship with JP hovering, unspoken of. Lafontaine had something that looked like a backpack with a short hose attached.

“I heard you have a bit of a pest problem?” they said, grinning. Laura looked at contraption on their back.

“Is that-”

“Yep. From Ghostbusters. But it doesn’t actually work. I just couldn’t resist.”

Perry shook her head disapprovingly,

“Only you would allow some ridiculous replica to take up space in your dorm.”

“It’s actually not a replica, see I-”

“Not that this little conference isn’t a delight, but could we move this along?”

Carmilla had gotten used to Lafontaine and Perry’s presence after Christmas, but the addition of Danny was grating on her nerves. Too many people.

Laura, thankfully, sat down on her computer chair, and explained quickly,

“So, Carmilla and I were, uh, hanging out-” The light blush that appeared in Laura’s cheeks as she spoke brought a hint of a smirk to Carmilla’s lips.

“-and she said she thought we weren’t alone,”

The three red heads turned toward Carmilla, but she simply shrugged as Laura continued,

“Which, I mean, I guess makes sense, it has been a bit chilly-”

Danny interjected,

“You called us because you were cold?”

“No, I wouldn’t. I mean, it’s obviously more than that, I wouldn’t just ask you all to come down for no re-”

“Laura’s mug exploded.”

Everyone turned toward Carmilla, expecting her to continue the story. She shook her head and Laura picked it back up.

“Yeah, there was this sound, like something crushing kinda, which, okay weird. And then it shattered and pieces flew everywhere, which is weirder and now I have to buy a new mug.”

Unsurprisingly, Perry was first to voice her doubts,

“Are you sure it wasn’t just the Glee club practicing another inaudible glass-shattering hymn? They’re going to put on another delightful concert this Friday.”

Even Lafontaine looked kind of skeptical,

“Yeah, there are plenty of things at Silas that could create that kind of reaction.”

“Well, I guess I’m not sure-”

“I am.”

Heads flew toward Carmilla for the third time and she suppressed another eye roll.

“Why’s that?” Danny said.

“I just know, alright? Chalk it up to vampire senses or whatever.”

Carmilla wasn’t sure why she knew, or if it had anything to do with being a vampire, but she did know.

“Well vampire senses are good enough for me, let’s figure out how to banish this spirit.” Lafontaine looked a little too excited for Carmilla’s liking, but she was grateful for their acceptance of her reasoning. Not that she’d ever tell them.

“That doesn’t seem very scientific of you, Lafontaine.” Perry admonished.

“You just leave the science to me. If the ghost starts speaking German, I’ll put away the proton pack and you can practice good communication,” they retorted. Perry huffed and plopped down on Laura’s bed, Lafontaine following in suit. Danny remained standing, ever action-ready.

Perry’s voice resounded again, ever hopeful,

“Well, who's to say proper communication and guidance isn’t exactly what this...being needs? We could simply kindly ask it to leave.”

Carmilla chimed in now, something which, to her annoyance, everyone seemed perpetually surprised at.

“Alright, Perry Longstocking, we’ve all gotta grow up sometime. I doubt that this thing just wants to reenact the pottery scene from ghost before it ascends to the great light wherever.”

Perry was without a reply, mostly because she hadn’t realized that Carmilla knew her name.

“Yeah, well I suppose we already know it’s aversion to ceramics.” said Danny, gesturing to the blue bits on the floor.

Laura pouted,

“Why couldn’t it have been one of the boring white mugs.”

“Sorry, cupcake, materials fade. Luckily, the internet allows you to be swift with their replacements.”

Everyone’s head simultaneously swiveled toward her.

“Are you all going to do that every single time I speak?”

“Sorry,” Lafontaine said, “We’re just kind of used to you being a silent fixture.”

“Yeah, aren’t you usually reading or brooding at this point?” Danny chimed in.

Carmilla sneered, “Oh, am I disrupting your little fellowship’s flow? I’m _so_ sorry.”

“What, does that make you Gollem, then? Because we all know how that ended, and It wasn’t on the heroes side. But then again, he didn’t exactly escape his little fall scratch-free. Maybe we’ll try a volcano next time.”

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Carmilla was lounging on her bed one second, and standing an inch from Danny the next. Perry and Lafontaine just looked at each other, shocked, as Laura flew instinctively forward to separate the two. Carmilla’s whole body was tense, like she was an instant away from action, and yet they simply scowled at each other. Danny’s height did nothing to impede upon Carmilla’s glare, and Carmilla’s vampiric nature did nothing to impede upon Danny’s. Laura was trying to squeeze between the two (unsuccessfully) when Carmilla noticed something behind Danny’s usual competitive stare:

Confusion.

Carmilla snapped out of it, looking away and stepping back, causing Laura to tumble forward a bit. Carmilla caught her and cleared her throat,

“I’m, uh, gonna step out for a bit.”

When she walked out she threw Danny a look that almost looked like an apology (almost), and gave the rest of the room a suspicious sweep with her eyes as the group stared at her. Then she was gone.

Laura gave a withering sigh,

“So much for teamwork.”

“All I said were some jokes. They weren’t even that harsh. It was Lord of the Rings for Godsakes!”

Lafontaine said, scratching their head, “That was odd. Even for me.”

“We’re not going to be able to accomplish anything if she can’t control her temper,” Perry added.

Laura sat on Carmilla’s bed and face planted into it, her muffled words ringing out,

“I don’t know,” She sat up, “I think it was when you mentioned her fall,” Laura’s own chest constricted at the thought of it. “She hasn’t really talked about it, or the rest of that day.”

“What’s there to talk about? I think the whole event turned out pretty well in the end. She was by most definitions the hero of the day and she finally escaped centuries of confinement. Sounds kick-ass to me.” Lafontaine said.

“Language, please.” Perry said quietly.

“Yeah, but she also saw her long lost love and flung herself into the light after her, only to lose her again and wake up here. Could be a potentially sore topic.” Laura tried to ignore the jealousy that the thought triggered, unsuccessfully. Danny remained silent throughout the discussion. She was uncomfortable with hearing about Carmilla’s soft spots. She preferred to discover them while punching her.

Instead, she changed the subject,

“So what are we going to do about this ghost thing? If Carmilla’s right, and it’s not just hanging out, you could be in danger.”

Laura smiled at Danny, whom she was slightly glad still cared about her enough to want to protect her (but in a less overbearing, friend way, hopefully).

“We’ll be okay for now. It hasn’t done anything but damage a cup,” she then yelled dramatically “That I _really_ liked, by the way!”

“Still, we should get rid of whatever this thing is. These are strictly two-being dorms.” Perry sounded, earning surprised looks from everyone.

“Who are you and what have you done to the girl who wanted to kindly talk to the ghost, the girl who thought communication was the answer to Laura’s vampire problem?” Lafontaine said.

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure Laura is glad we didn’t...dissect Carmilla. And this girl still hasn’t ruled out talking to the being. I just don’t know how.”

Lafontaine’s eyes lit up with a mischievous shimmer.

“We could do a seance.”

The next responses were quick and muddled together.

Danny’s eyes lit up with horror,

“Absolutely not.”

Laura scrunched up her face in consideration,

“Does seem kind of risky…”

Perry said, worry lining her features,

“Oujia boards are banned from campus.”

Laura continued,

“But, I mean, it’s not like there are many other options, and we don’t want to hurt something that could potentially be benign.”

Perry asked Lafontaine,

“Aren’t there some safer tests you can run? With your...instruments?”

They shrugged,

“I wish. There’s nothing to test. There’s no body to experiment on. Nothing physical, at least. There’s thermal imaging, electromagnetic field meters and stuff, but I’d have to order it specially since the tech lab is infested with scorpions. And that still wouldn’t tell us as much as if we could speak to it.”

“So...are we saying that we’re actually going with the communication option?” Danny said.

They were all silent for a moment.

Laura rose from her chair and placed her hands on her hips.

“Looks like we’re going to have a….stern talk with another unruly roommate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This are gonna pick up soon... I wanted to include more in this chapter, but I figured I'd just post what I have since it's been a while. Let me know what you think, or I can't improve! Or I won't know what to keep doing that you like. Talk to me. Be my friend. Buy me things.

**Author's Note:**

> Track #Carmilla Haunt for updates and announcements.


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